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Tulpa is a puzzle-platformer game, in which the player controls two characters, a girl named Ophelia and a boy named Oliver, that travel through an ever-changing world. The characters possess different abilities and perceive the world differently. This makes the survival of both characters non-trivial, as traversing the world and overcoming its challenges demands that the player has both perspectives in mind.

The Story

Story-wise the game revolves around concepts borrowed from occultism and theosophy, with thought forms (or “Tulpas”) on the focal point. Characters hide twisted secrets and the world transforms to pair with their psychology. Symbolism is also used along those lines with both game objects and -literal- symbols (we call them “Glyphs”), filling the world, giving information to the player about the story as well as about the challenge he is facing. With all these in-place, it comes down to the player to find out the grim past of our (anti-?)heroine and her tulpa.

The Aesthetics

The aesthetics are focused on flat coloured models and fine tuned full-screen effects for the generation of minimalistic but intense and smooth-looking scenes. The graphical concepts are heavily inspired by the works of Salvador Dali, Jacek Yerka as well as other known (and unknown) artists. On the gaming side, great influences were Yume Nikki, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, American McGee's Alice and Limbo. Finally, the Glyphs being a major characteristic of the game aesthetics, follow a sketched/scribbled style adding a sense obscurity on the matters presented.

The Sound

Tulpa is dark, is eerie. The same goes for Red Aura’s {LINK REMOVED}(http://redaura.bandcamp.com/) music. We knew it from the very first hearing, Red Aura was the missing puzzle piece of this game. We share very much the same theme and mood. Paradoxical! Red Aura’s experimental and dark ambient elements make Tulpa shine… darker.

The Gameplay

MovementThe game’s controls regarding character movement follow the well-known and established control patterns of the platformer genre. Player uses the <arrow keys> for moving Ophelia to the left or to the right and <space> for jumping and climbing. When you switch over to Oliver, the <arrow> keys are used to set him in motion in both the horizontal and vertical axes, floating near his beloved Ophelia.

Character AbilitiesOphelia doesn’t have any special ability. Her role is interacting with the material world by means of pushing and grabbing stuff around. Oliver’s ability on the other hand is the interaction with otherworldly objects using a telekinetic power, directed by the player using his mouse.

SanityOliver is Ophelia’s tulpa. He was created by her own mind in need for support. That cause has an effect: Ophelia needs Oliver to be close, otherwise she begins to lose her sanity, ensuing an inevitable death.